Facebook To Bring Display Ads To Popular Messenger App

Facebook's Messenger app isn't the most-liked on the planet. Why? Well, the company thinks that everyone is a-OK with the fact that two separate apps need to be used for the same service, something that caused quite a stir in the summer of 2014 when the company forced people install the Messenger app in order to keep in touch with friends and family.

Well, if you haven't liked Messenger up to this point, just wait until you see what's in store for Q2: advertising.

According to a document that was leaked to TechCrunch, Facebook is planning to bring advertising to its Messenger app, which up to this point has been completely devoid of anything resembling an ad. However, this is a case where it might be best to not jump to conclusions, as it appears the initial rollout is not going to be that bad.

The document shows that companies which you've been in touch with will gain the ability to send advertising-related messages through Messenger. If you've never initiated a conversation with a company through Facebook, you simply won't have to worry about being spammed -- which is a very good thing. Something tells us that people still won't want to receive messages from companies they've contacted, so it will be interesting to see how things fare after this goes live.

Tying into this, Facebook will also launch a new URL shortener service for companies that will allow potential customers to begin messaging the company immediately in response to one of these messages. This is useful, but it won't affect those who decide to message a company they haven't contacted before, as they could simply go to that company's Facebook page and click the message button right there.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg in 2014 said that ads don't belong in applications like Messenger, so to learn that it's going to happen is kind of surprising. Perhaps that means Facebook's WhatsApp will be next in line to receive advertising?